The present invention is concerned with a decorative method and a blank for a decorator's tool and in particular a decorative method for providing a grained appearance on a substrate.
Grain imitation techniques are known in which a scumble glaze is applied to a painted wood substrate, the scumble glaze being applied in a streaky discontinuous manner to give the appearance of natural graining. Currently used techniques however are very time consuming and require considerable expertise, such as that of a craftsman, to create a desired natural grain appearance. They do not therefore appeal to amateur (that is, "do-it-yourself") painters, who represent an increasingly important part of the market.
Similarly, it is known to create imitation woodgrains on a surface using specialised tools to create the grain finish. Normally, at least two tools are required in order to achieve the desired effect. Existing tools consist of combs having teeth or the like which are used to establish a continuous streaked or grained appearance on a painted substrate, and a separate tool having a convex surface, with a series of concentric ridge formations on the convex surface, which can be used to selectively expose parts of the surface, so as to produce a simulated woodgrain appearance on the surface. Using separate tools to create the woodgrain finish suffers from a number of drawbacks. In addition, packaging of two separate tools in a box or the like requires extra packaging space and packaging material, which adds to the total cost of the product.